G-CLASS: geosynchronous radar for water cycle science – orbit selection and system design

• Published in: Journal of engineering (Stevenage, England) Vol. 2019; no. 21; pp. 7534 - 7537
• Main Authors: Hobbs, Stephen E, Guarnieri, Andrea Monti, Broquetas, Antoni, Calvet, Jean-Christophe, Casagli, Nicola, Chini, Marco, Ferretti, Rossella, Nagler, Thomas, Pierdicca, Nazzareno, Prudhomme, Christel, Wadge, Geoff
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.11.2019; IET; Wiley
• Subjects: agriculture; atmospheric techniques; continental land atmosphere sensing system; C‐band geosynchronous radar; diurnal water cycle; Earth Sciences; earthquake; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Sciences; ESA Earth Explorer; flexible imaging modes; flooding; geosynchronous orbit; geosynchronous protected region; ground motion observations; G‐CLASS system design; high resolution weather prediction; high temporal resolution imaging; human society; hydrological techniques; Hydrology; IET International Radar Conference (IRC 2018); intense storms; landslides; meteorological radar; Meteorology; mission geosynchronous; orbit selection; science objectives; Sciences of the Universe; significant diurnal processes; size 20.0 m; size 20.0 m; snow melt; societal impacts; soil moisture change; standard small geosynchronous satellite; subsidence monitoring; volcano; water cycle science; water resource management; weather forecasting; high resolution weather prediction; flexible imaging modes; meteorological radar; snow melt; orbit selection; ESA Earth Explorer; significant diurnal processes; continental land atmosphere sensing system; agriculture; C-band geosynchronous radar; weather forecasting; human society; high temporal resolution imaging; water cycle science; volcano; intense storms; subsidence monitoring; geosynchronous orbit; diurnal water cycle; mission geosynchronous; flooding; earthquake; societal impacts; ground motion observations; standard small geosynchronous satellite; size 20.0 m; science objectives; atmospheric techniques; G-CLASS system design; landslides; water resource management; hydrological techniques; geosynchronous protected region; soil moisture change
• ISSN: 2051-3305; 2051-3305
• DOI: 10.1049/joe.2019.0601

The mission geosynchronous – continental land atmosphere sensing system (G-CLASS) is designed to study the diurnal water cycle, using geosynchronous radar. Although the water cycle is vital to human society, processes on timescales less than a day are very poorly observed from space. G-CLASS, using C-band geosynchronous radar, could transform this. Its science objectives address intense storms and high resolution weather prediction, and significant diurnal processes such as snow melt and soil moisture change, with societal impacts including agriculture, water resource management, flooding, and landslides. Secondary objectives relate to ground motion observations for earthquake, volcano, and subsidence monitoring. The orbit chosen for G-CLASS is designed to avoid the geosynchronous protected region and enables integration times of minutes to an hour to achieve resolutions down to ∼20 m. Geosynchronous orbit (GEO) enables high temporal resolution imaging (up to several images per hour), rapid response, and very flexible imaging modes which can provide much improved coverage at low latitudes. The G-CLASS system design is based on a standard small geosynchronous satellite and meets the requirements of ESA's Earth Explorer 10 call.